Key result
Lower Life's Essential 8 score linked to ~33% higher dementia risk per 10-point drop.
Why the study?
The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 defines cardiovascular health using eight metrics, but its association with incident dementia needed examination.
Does a higher Life's Essential 8 score prevent incident dementia in dementia-free urban-dwelling adults?
Cohort (n=920)
No
Does a higher Life's Essential 8 score prevent incident dementia in dementia-free urban-dwelling adults?
Hazard Ratio: 1.33 (95% CI 1.17–1.51)
Lower cardiovascular health in mid-life, as quantified by the Life's Essential 8 score, is independently associated with a significantly increased risk of incident dementia in an urban, diverse cohort.
May inform dementia risk stratification; extends LE8 to cognitive outcomes but leaves causality open.
INTRODUCTION: The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8™ (LE8) defines cardiovascular health (CVH) using eight behavioral and clinical metrics. We examined the association between CVH and incident dementia. METHODS: We used data from 920 dementia-free participants of the Northern Manhattan Study. LE8 scores (range: 0-100) were calculated from information on clinical and behavioral characteristics. Dementia was adjudicated by expert clinicians using neuropsychological assessments and clinical records. We used Cox proportional hazards models to determine associations adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and insurance. RESULTS: Mean age was 64 years, 60% of participants were female, 65% were Hispanic, and mean LE8 score was 60. Over 9 years, 175 participants developed dementia. Each 10-unit decrement in LE8 score was associated with a greater risk of dementia (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-1.51). DISCUSSION: CVH is important for brain health, and our results support interventions aimed at improving CVH for prevention of dementia.
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Gallop et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Incident dementia (n=920). 10-unit decrement in Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score vs. 10-unit higher LE8 score was evaluated on Incident dementia (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.17-1.51). Each 10-unit decrement in the Life's Essential 8 cardiovascular health score was associated with a 33% greater risk of incident dementia (HR 1.33) over a 9-year follow-up.
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